The Hague
Complicity, duplicity and denial mark the record of the “Dutchbat” U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where more than 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred by Bosnian Serb forces, in 1995.
“Srebrenica. The genocide that was not prevented”, a report issued by the Interchurch Peace Council (Interkerkelijk Vredesberaad; IKV) a coalition of Dutch Churches, points out that Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic offered the “Dutchbat” the opportunity to evacuate the more than 20,000 Bosnian Muslim citizens of Srebrenica, but the Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok declined.
The IKV is calling for a renewed parliamentary inquiry, on the basis of many interviews with individuals who were directly involved and documents that have never before been made public.
A previous parliamentary inquiry had blamed the U.N. for not adequately providing supplies for the Dutch U.N. Peacekeeping Forces.
During that earlier inquiry, the Dutch Press revealed videos of Dutch superior officers toasting with Mladic after his “victory”. The ordinary soldier had little choice and the Dutch public and many officials are outraged at the decision to abandon Srebrenica.
Complicity, duplicity and denial mark the record of the “Dutchbat” U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where more than 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred by Bosnian Serb forces, in 1995.
“Srebrenica. The genocide that was not prevented”, a report issued by the Interchurch Peace Council (Interkerkelijk Vredesberaad; IKV) a coalition of Dutch Churches, points out that Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic offered the “Dutchbat” the opportunity to evacuate the more than 20,000 Bosnian Muslim citizens of Srebrenica, but the Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok declined.
The IKV is calling for a renewed parliamentary inquiry, on the basis of many interviews with individuals who were directly involved and documents that have never before been made public.
A previous parliamentary inquiry had blamed the U.N. for not adequately providing supplies for the Dutch U.N. Peacekeeping Forces.
During that earlier inquiry, the Dutch Press revealed videos of Dutch superior officers toasting with Mladic after his “victory”. The ordinary soldier had little choice and the Dutch public and many officials are outraged at the decision to abandon Srebrenica.